The fact that reading this put me to sleep for a solid 3-4 hours because absolutely nothing remotely interesting happened until the last few chapters The fact that reading this put me to sleep for a solid 3-4 hours because absolutely nothing remotely interesting happened until the last few chapters of the book should probably say enough about how I feel about it.
4 stars --- Trigger warnings: pedophilia, murder, domestic abuse/violence, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, unwanted pregnancy, You're Invited was WILD
RTC
4 stars --- Trigger warnings: pedophilia, murder, domestic abuse/violence, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, unwanted pregnancy, abortion (it's mentioned, but none of the characters go through with an abortion procedure), death of a family member, incarceration, illegal drug use/drug addiction, age-gap relationships with a minor, elitism, blackmail, self-harm...more
Here I go again, reading another hyped-up BookTok book thinking I, too, will also like it but instead, I was left feeling conflicted about whether or Here I go again, reading another hyped-up BookTok book thinking I, too, will also like it but instead, I was left feeling conflicted about whether or not I do which seems to be the running theme with a lot of the books I've read this summer. Maybe part of it is because there are so many other people saying that they loved the book and so that means you have to love it too or there's something wrong with you, but to put this out there and make it crystal clear right off the bat: I don't think it was a horrible story or anything like that. However, I do believe there are two big things that prevented me from fully loving the story as so many others did:
1. The writing style: I feel like it's almost common knowledge in the bookish community at this point that Daisy Jones and the Six was written in an interview style where each character will pitch in their own thoughts as the interviewer is asking them questions. I knew that going into the book, but I felt that the interview style made it difficult for me to get hooked easily (compared to TJR's other books I have read) as I was struggling to keep up with all the characters and who they are as they were introduced for the first time.
Add on to the fact that the book was set up as each section is a different era of the band's history and everyone just going back and forth giving their thoughts on what was going on during that time (we're talking almost every line was a different character commenting unless they had a lot to say) vs. each character getting their own section dedicated to their commentary made it a little confusing to follow along with at times. In retrospect, I feel like it makes the most sense to have it set up the way it is in the book and have all of the commentary flow together. Giving each character their own section would probably make for a much more boring read since it would be reading about the same events from like, 10+ people's perspectives would be a bit much, but it would've made it easier to keep track of all the characters from the get-go.
However, I will say that there were times when I forgot that Daisy Jones and the Six weren't actually a real band (although there is speculation that they're based on Fleetwood Mac). Going off of that, I feel like that's when you start to know that a book is good-when the lines start to blur between fiction and reality-so I did get hooked eventually, it just didn't happen as quickly for me as it did for other people. If anyone was wondering, it wasn't until around the part where the band started to write the Aurora album that I felt a little more invested in the story. If you read the book, you'll know that's not until about halfway through the book. Maybe it's because that was when I finally figured out who was who in the story and what their role was or maybe that's when I knew the plot was going to pick up, but other than that, the first ~150 pages felt like a drag to me.
2. The characters: I just couldn't bring myself to actually feel attached to any of the characters. Usually, this isn't a make-or-break sort of deal for me when it comes down to rating a book because I know what I'm reading is fiction, but I feel like for a book to have so many main characters and a plot that involves the characters reflecting on their past experiences and emotions about being part of a world-renowned rock band while laying it all out in an interview, that feeling like you're emotionally attached to some (or all) of them would make your reading experience better. I will say that I think we can all come to the conclusion that Billy was an asshole that had a "my way or the highway" attitude about his band and his bandmates were getting fed up with it all and that's how resentment builds until the tension finally reaches its peak and things start to go downhill and if there's one character I didn't like at all in this story, it was Billy.
If there were any characters I liked, it was the women in the story: Daisy, Camilla, and Karen. I loved Daisy's unapologetic, (maybe a little too) carefree attitude towards life and how she challenged Billy, Camilla for her "I'll tell you how it is" attitude and the love she had for her family, and Karen because 1. she plays the piano and that's just biased because I also play the piano lol, and 2. for Karen's line of "Men often think they deserve a sticker for treating women like people." and to that I say, SAY IT LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK!
Overall, this was one of those books that was an "It's not you, it's me" sort of read for me. It was an enjoyable read once I was able to get into it; unfortunately, it took almost half of the book for me to feel that way. After reading this book along with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Malibu Rising, I feel like if I read Daisy Jones and the Six first before reading TJR's other books I wouldn't have paid much attention to the writing style and how it was written like an interview the entire time.
P.S. Is Mick Riva going to be mentioned in every book in the TJR historical fiction universe at this point because he is a trashcan of a human being...even if he's fictional.
3 stars -- Trigger warnings: abortion, absent parent/neglectful parent, alcoholism and alcohol consumption, addiction, adultery/cheating, death of a friend, death of a family member, drug use...more
I've created a brand new exclusive shelf for this book: "Will Not Read." I originally bought this book as one of my add-ons for my Book of the Month sI've created a brand new exclusive shelf for this book: "Will Not Read." I originally bought this book as one of my add-ons for my Book of the Month subscription box months ago, I believe back in December 2021 or January 2022, somewhere in that time range. I knew the book was getting pretty popular and decided, "Hey why not; let's see what the hype is all about." This was back before I knew the controversy behind the book regarding the subject matter and the author herself writing about said subject matter in not only this book but most, if not all, of her other books as well.
I haven't read the book yet, and now I'm glad I didn't. In recent weeks, there's been a lot of discussion on Book Twitter about Colleen Hoover's books and the material written in them. With that being said, I can no longer in good faith support an author that writes about abusive, toxic relationships, markets them as romance novels, and further creates a narrative for young, impressionable teenage girls (which seems to be the target audience/age range considering the popularity of the books on BookTok, Bookstagram, Book Twitter, etc. and the demographic there) that the relationships seen in her books is what love is supposed to be like.
This isn't me attempting to gatekeep the idea that people shouldn't read her books, but I do believe that readers should be aware that the relationships in her books are by no means healthy, loving relationships. From what I heard, there aren't really trigger warnings placed at the beginning of her books or any sort of author's note or disclaimer anywhere which is a huge red flag for people who would be uncomfortable/triggered by the content. If you plan on reading any of her books, by all means, go ahead, but this serves as an important reminder to check all trigger warnings left behind by other readers before reading it yourself!
While bringing light to abusive and toxic relationships in books is good to bring awareness to the fact that many people are, unfortunately, in relationships like that every day, I believe there is a right and a wrong way of writing about it. Writing about toxic and abusive relationships isn't technically wrong or forbidden, but to market it as a romance novel is what I have a problem with. I have close friends who have been hurt in relationships like the ones in Colleen Hoover's books and it's not romantic, it's not pretty, it's not cute, and it's definitely not funny to see screenshots of people's TikToks floating around the bookish communities on social media platforms with captions that say "Men in Colleen Hoover books >>>>>" because THAT IS NOT LOVE! To frame it as anything other than an abusive relationship is going to mess with so many young girls' minds and possibly make them think that they need to find a person who's just like the MMCs in those books.
(Not to mention, her son sexually harassed a girl and when she reached out to Colleen Hoover to speak up and let her know, the girl was blocked. You can see the thread here.)
So long story short, I'm not reading It Ends With Us anymore, I will no longer be reading anything by Colleen Hoover, and I will be adding any other problematic authors and their books to this shelf as I go along. Thanks for reading this non-review if you made it this far lol....more
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